T-Mobile USA has said on Wednesday that it has resolved Tuesday's nationwide network outage but is still investigating the source of the problem. In a statement, the wireless provider said about five percent of its subscribers throughout the US faced service disruptions for several hours, including the inability to access the data network or make 3G phone calls.
HTC today began shipping the HD2 to Europe and Taiwan but also confirmed plans to bring the phone to the US. The Windows Mobile 6.5 handset is due to ship to America through a "major carrier" in early 2010. While unnamed by HTC, it's expected the phone will be available through T-Mobile USA and will support the provider's 1,700MHz 3G network.
T-Mobile users tonight have been reporting a widespread outage of service across the US. Those affected are finding themselves unable to call or use data services like 3G or messaging. The exact cause of the outage isn't currently known.
The iPhone now represents almost exactly one third of all touchscreen phones in the US, new comScore info says. Of all touch phones in the country, 32.9 percent are iPhones while all others trail significantly behind. Most of the runners-up are Verizon devices and include the LG Dare and Voyager at 8.7 and 7.8 percent respectively. The BlackBerry Storm has just seven percent, while the T-Mobile G1 is both the most popular Android and T-Mobile phone on the list with 3.6 percent.
Following rumors last week, Peek on Tuesday launched its expected TwitterPeek. It embraces the same single-purpose philosophy of the earlier device and here is dedicated solely to Twitter: users can check their feed and write posts or replies. Its always active use of T-Mobile's EDGE network lets it provide updates most anywhere inside the US without having to manually refresh or look for an access point.
As promised, T-Mobile on Monday announced the Motorola Cliq is now available at T-Mobile. The Cliq is the first Android-powered handset to use MOTOBLUR, a feature that brings e-mails, messages, status updates and other information from social networks to the home screen through streams. The Cliq also gets Wi-Fi and has a hardware slide-out QWERTY keyboard along with a 3.1-inch, 480x320 touchscreen.
T-Mobile UK has put up a product page for the HTC Touch HD2 handset, revealing it will be out sometime this month. The device is the first Windows Mobile (6.5) smartphone to use a capacitive multi-input touchscreen. T-Mobile UK site visitors get the option to register and receive updates regarding the device.
Google tonight moved to quash rumors that it would make its own smartphone. The company's Android project president, Andy Rubin, says it would be unfair for Google to "compete with its customers" and that it remains dedicated to Android only as an operating system for outside hardware manufacturers. He adds that Google isn't particularly experienced at hardware design and that its influence on the T-Mobile G1's hardware design is more a negative than a positive.
Peek will soon offer a new product that will add Twitter support to the existing e-mail and text messaging functionality of the existing devices. While nothing official is known, a leaked image of the box for the Twitter Peek indicates this is indeed true. Like other Peek devices, the new Peek product will allow unlimited updates over T-Mobile's EDGE network in the US.
Leaked images from Verizon confirm that the very recently slipped BlackBerry Curve 8530 will be known as the Curve2 at the wireless provider. The handset is a CDMA version of the Curve 8520 already offered by T-Mobile in the US and Rogers in Canada. The brochures have a decidedly holiday-oriented theme to them, which, together with a private sale slated for late in November, hint that the Curve2 will be out in time for the holiday season.
FCC chairman Julius Genachowski in a talk published today warned that mobile data is facing a "spectrum gap" that could significantly damage Internet access on cellphones. He considers the iPhone a leader in a wave of devices that are straining 3G networks enough to create severe accessibility problems and that the FCC is considering "more creative" steps to solve the problem. Among these steps may include exploiting unlicensed spectrum or even allowing second licenses that have two companies share the same frequency.
As reported earlier, Sony Ericsson will begin shipping its Equinox flip phone to wireless provider T-Mobile on October 28th, the company announced on Monday. Full specs of the device have also been revealed, and include 3G network support, a built-in GPS sensor and a unique lightning effect that pulsates when a call or message comes in, the color of which can be customized for each specific caller.
Apple's plans to launch a tablet in coming months may have gained credence today through a pair of possible leaks. New York Times executive editor Bill Keller in a speech at Harvard's Nieman Journalism Lab last week included the "impending Apple slate" as one of the platforms he hopes to have carry the newspaper's content, alongside desktop, mobile web and iPhone apps. It's unclear if Keller has advance knowledge or is just acting on rumors, although it's been claimed that Apple is negotiating with publishers for content delivery through iTunes in advance of a tablet.
T-Mobile on Sunday quietly launched its Even More Plus plans in a bid to undermine rival US carriers. The plans provide a simpler and potentially less costly approach to phone service and scale linearly in voice minutes and data features: users pick from 500, 1,000 or unlimited US voice minutes and can add either unlimited messaging alone or messaging plus data. Prices as a result range from as little as $30 for voice only to $80 for an all-unlimited plan.
The upcoming HTC Desire may become part of what Verizon considers an entire series of devices, multiple leaks tonight appear to confirm. Following a source speaking to Phone Scoop that says all Android-based phones at Verizon will carry the "Droid" name as a brand, gdgt has posted a page for the phone that suggests it will be called the Droid Eris based on the Greek goddess of discord and get an all-black color scheme not unlike the Motorola Droid. The phone is already known to be a touch-only model with a trackball as a backup control and should bring a 5-megapixel camera.
A new Universal Charging Solution (UCS) has been approved by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a division in the United Nations, according to a Thursday report. The energy efficient charger will be compatible with all cellphones regardless of make and model, with certain unnamed manufacturers already incorporating the standard into their products, the ITU says. Other than the energy savings, the new charger will also help eliminate waste as the charger can be retained as new phones are upgraded and older ones are thrown out.
Details of T-Mobile's Project Dark smartphone plan pricing scheme have been revealed, thanks to leaked documents on TMoNews. This includes an individual $80 per month plan that gives users 500 anytime minutes as well as unlimited data and text messaging, which compares favorably to AT&T's $70 plan that includes 450 minutes and unlimited data but no text messaging. The pricing includes individual plans that carry no associated two-year contracts, as well as family plans with two lines and a two-year commitment.
RIM today confirmed early slips with a launch for the BlackBerry Bold 9700. The smartphone is a refinement of the 2008-era Bold with a more compact design but a round of improvements, including a higher-resolution 480x360 screen (up from 480x320), a 3.2-megapixel camera (improved from two), and an optical trackpad in place of the more clog-prone trackball. Wi-Fi calling is new for carriers that support UMA, like Rogers and T-Mobile.
Microsoft and T-Mobile today said they have begun restoring Sidekick data and have offered a guide for owners. The two now say they can restore contacts they might have lost that already existed on October 1st. Those Sidekick owners who created contacts to supplement or replace entries lost during the major outage can either keep both on-device and online sets, merge them or use only the set originating from the cellphone.
The Samsung Behold II and T-Mobile Tap have been dated for a release at T-Mobile on Monday thanks to leaved images from the carrier's brochures. The former, and the first with Google's Android operating system at T-Mobile and from Samsung, is due for a November 18th debut, while the Tap will be out a week earlier, on the 11th of November.
Microsoft may owe T-Mobile millions of dollars for its just-concluding Sidekick outage, an inside tip may have revealed today. Like most carriers, T-Mobile is believed to have a service level agreement (SLA) with Microsoft and Danger to guarantee uptime but may have a particularly costly deal with Microsoft. The MobileCrunch source claims that Microsoft will likely pay a rate roughly equal to $700,000 per day for the period it couldn't guarantee 99.5 percent availability of Sidekick services.
Inadvertently tipping off RIM's plans, T-Mobile Germany today put up a listing for the BlackBerry Bold 9700. Also known as the Bold 2, the phone matches earlier descriptions and has the optical trackpad, taller 480x360 screen and improved 3.2-megapixel camera seen in prototypes. T-Mobile's version also appears to bundle a 2GB microSD card.
HTC's upcoming HD2 smartphone has been spotted on T-Mobile internal documents, according to TmoNews. The recently announced handset, marking HTC's latest flagship, will ship with Windows Mobile 6.5 and a capacitive 800x480 touchscreen. Internally, the device sports a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 448MB of RAM, and 7.2Mb/s HSPA connectivity.
T-Mobile is not the only UK carrier distributing iPhones unofficially, a report claims. The Telegraph says it has learned that 3 is also engaged in giving iPhones to its most lucrative customers, though 3's involvement in the strategy is thought to be recent, having only begun in recent weeks. T-Mobile has allegedly been giving away iPhones since the summer.
(Update #2 with T-Mobile plans) T-Mobile may let Sidekick owners affected by the permanent data loss drop their contracts and move to other phones, one subscriber says today. At least one customer reports to Gizmodo that he has been offered an early exit from his contract as well as having the option of buying a T-Mobile G1 for the same $130 price new or eligible customers would pay. BlackBerries and other smartphone-class devices have also been made options.
A major, avoidable error by Microsoft caused the permanent Sidekick data loss from over a week ago, sources said this weekend. Multiple tips to Hiptop3 claim that Microsoft had no backup of the Storage Area Network (SAN) used to hold Sidekick information and lost the data when Hitachi encountered a failure during an upgrade. The company may now have little choice but to start fresh and have users re-sync data from their Sidekicks once a fresh SAN is ready.
T-Mobile this Saturday has issued a warning to all Sidekick owners that their online data may have been permanently lost by Danger and its parent company Microsoft. In a note to customers, the carrier says the likelihood of recovering contacts, calendars and other information taken offline by a more than week-long outage is "extremely low" due to an assessment of the server failure. Customers may lose all their information if they have to reset their sidekicks or deprive them of power, according to the note.
(Updated with talk of $50 unlimited plan) T-Mobile's mysterious Project Black may be a combination of the company's phones and a rapid expansion of its fastest 3G service, a quick follow-up source said Friday. Rather than center on a specific device or a plan, Black would on pushing T-Mobile's upcoming high-end phones, including the Behold II, Bold 2 and Cliq, and matching them with the quick deployment of its 21Mbps HSPA+ network throughout the US. The timetable and the specific plans are still unknown by BGR and others.
O2 UK has reportedly begun telling customers to expect the HTC HD2 in just over a week. The carrier expects the phone to be available on October 19th, or significantly ahead of HTC's official end-of-month target for the phone. Other carriers have yet to describe their own plans, though T-Mobile is also believed to be picking up the Windows Mobile 6.5 phone in the near future.
Microsoft's Pink phone project may be on the verge of falling apart even before its first product ships, according to a controversial set of leaks supposedly confirmed today. Backing a scoop from earlier in the week, a source for AppleInsider says Microsoft has poorly managed the project and squandered the acquisition of Sidekick creator Danger from 2008. Rather than implement Danger's advice, the larger company has watched the majority of the team either fired or leave in frustration as the majority of their advice is ignored.
The BlackBerry Bold 2 (known as the 9700) could ship for T-Mobile three weeks after it's unveiled, based on a new rumor. So far pegged for an October 21st unveiling alongside the AT&T model, the smartphone is described by a BGR tipster as actually shipping the device on November 11th, or exactly three weeks after it becomes public. It's still unknown whether or not the AT&T version will ship at the same time.
The BlackBerry Bold 9700 could be ready to launch on not one but two US carriers before the end of the month based on a key leak today. Possibly rebadged as just the Bold 2, the smartphone would be unveiled for both AT&T and T-Mobile on October 21st if the tip to Engadget is authentic. It would represent T-Mobile's first 3G BlackBerry and an end to AT&T's exclusive for the Bold line.
US carrier T-Mobile is preparing its staff for a major, mysterious update that could have an impact on other carriers, a rumor implies tonight. A development known as "Project Black" has received few details, as those attached to it have signed non-disclosure agreements, but it will supposedly be significant enough to move T-Mobile up in US market share from its usual fourth place. T-Mobile staff would be trained on it starting Thursday.
On Wednesday, T-Mobile said it will soon release a number of new handsets, including a variation of the myTouch. Called the T-Mobile myTouch 3G Fender Limited Edition, it will sport a wood-grain finish to mimic a guitar's look and adds a 3.5mm headset jack. The standard-issue 4GB microSD memory card is replaced by a 16GB version, and is preloaded with exclusive videos and audio from unspecified iconic musicians.
HTC's CEO Peter Chou today said that his company's just-revealed HD2 should ultimately reach the US. He declined to say with which carrier, but the executive told SlashGear that it would first show in early 2010, or a few months after the European release. Most other details are also likely to wait until next year.
Orange UK on Tuesday said it would ship the Motorola DEXT tomorrow, October 7th. It was available for pre-order on September 22th at the carrier, and its release Wednesday should mark the worldwide debut of the Android-powered device.
HTC on Tuesday used the kick-off for Windows Mobile 6.5 to launch its widely publicized new flagship smartphone. The HD2 is the first Windows Mobile phone ever to have a capacitive, multi-touch screen and can respond much more quickly and accurately to finger input than the resistive screens most Microsoft-based phones are forced to use. It additionally supports pinching, flicks and other gestures in many apps, making it the first Windows Mobile phone to support iPhone-like commands.
T-Mobile started off the week with word of its first Samsung phone with Android. The Behold II has graduated from a feature phone to a full smartphone and carries the full Google suite of apps as well as Android Market for third-party apps. Unlike the Galaxy it's based on, though, the Behold II is Samsung's first phone to bring its TouchWiz interface and not only has the widget sidebar but a 3D cube menu that provides shortcuts to common tasks like media, the web and the Amazon MP3 online store. Microsoft Exchange sync also adds to what Google would bring itself.
Relative newcomer Kempler & Strauss this morning made official the W PhoneWatch. It provides similar functionality to a watch phone like the LG GD910 but should be even smaller; despite the size, it doesn't require a stylus for its touchscreen interface. It serves as a full media phone with 4GB of built-in storage as well as a microSD card slot and the option of playing videos as well as music; it can even use its camera for video recording.
T-Mobile may be on the verge of updating its Android phones with the 1.6 update with "Donut" features, a last-minute leak has confirmed. Starting today, the carrier is reported by TmoNews to be giving both G1 and myTouch 3G users the upgraded features, which are known to include device-wide search, gestures, text-to-speech and likely the redesigned Android Market. A handful of G1 owners have had the update as of midnight; 24 hours from that point, some myTouch 3G owners should also get the update barring technical issues found in the test rollout.
Modern touchscreen phones like the iPhone, Android devices and the Palm Pre are proving to be much more enjoyable to use than conventional smartphones -- at times in spite of their networks, according to a CFI study. About 83 percent of US iPhone owners are satisfied with their phones while the other two touch-first platforms, Google's Android and Palm's webOS, are close with 77 percent each. In comparison, 73 percent of BlackBerry owners can say the same while those using Palm Treos of different varieties claimed 70 percent satisfaction.
T-Mobile this afternoon set out official launch details for the Motorola Cliq, its newest Android phone and Motorola's first touchscreen smartphone. Pre-orders for existing users should start on October 19th while the phone should ultimately arrive in stores on November 2nd; those who order in advance may get the phone early, T-Mobile said. The handset itself is priced at the same $200 on contract as its tougher competition, including the iPhone and BlackBerry Tour, though it's more expensive than the $150 prices of the Palm Pre or T-Mobile's own myTouch 3G.
As part of its ongoing attempt to expand the wireless spectrum for its national broadband plan, the FCC has now opened comments to the public asking whether the so-called "prime bands" below 3.7GHz, considered ideal for wireless data and video, are sufficient for the near- and long-term demands of wireless broadband. The FCC seeks to get information from industry players by October 23rd regarding the ability of the current spectrum to support future build-outs and which bands are best suited for mobile or fixed wireless broadband.
More than 15 phone manufacturers will release over 30 new smartphones running on Microsoft's upcoming Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system before the end of 2009, the copmany's GCR Mobile Team Unit senior director Benjamin Tan said recently. Tan was speaking to a group of reports at the time, according to a Wednesday Digitimes report. Among the phone manufacturers slated to introduce models are HTC, Acer, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and HP.
An upcoming handset from Sony Ericsson, the Equinox, is due soon at provider T-Mobile. The device was first spotted undergoing FCC testing back in May. Slated for an October 28th release, the flip phone sports a 3.2-megapixel camera and a picture messaging feature. The Equinox will otherwise have a pulse light on the outer shell and stereo Bluetooth support.
T-Mobile on Friday said it has started rolling out the first 3G network in the US to support HSPA+. Currently active through about 20 cell sites in Philadelphia, the new network gives T-Mobile the fastest mobile Internet in the country with peak downloads of 21Mbps and uploads as high as 5.76Mbps. While actual speeds are likely to be much lower, the service is about three times faster than AT&T's newly unveiled 7.2Mbps network plans.
T-Mobile has dropped the price of its G1 smartphone down to $130 with a two year agreement. Although the recent price cut is only $20 below the previous $150 promotion, it could be an indication that T-Mobile is clearing out inventory ahead of its Motorola Cliq launch.
Apple's latest iPhone, the 3GS, ranks almost squarely in the middle of smartphones in terms of radiation output, a non-profit activist organization says. The Environmental Working Group notes that according to compiled data, the 3GS produces approximately 1.19W/kg of radiation. The figure is substantially lower than the worst-case examples, the T-Mobile myTouch 3G and the Kyocera Jax S1300, which each produce 1.55W/kg.
T-Mobile upgraded its budget media phones on Wednesday by bringing in the 5130 XpressMusic. Coming very close to the reference version, the candybar design centers on its dedicated media control strip along the side and its inclusion of a 3.5mm headphone jack. A 2-megapixel camera, FM radio, stereo Bluetooth and EDGE-based Internet access are part of the design.
Amid rumors that Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile's parent company, is considering a takeover bid for the US rival Sprint, sources claim the German company's biggest shareholders are preparing to force changes, according to the Financial Times. Although both companies have remained mum on any private negotiations, the report corroborates earlier suggestions that D Telekom has become frustrated with the performance of its US subsidiary.
